T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
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763.1 | it was the best of times and the worst of times :-) | CVG::THOMPSON | Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest? | Sat Nov 20 1993 23:38 | 39 |
| It means that a man with 5 daughters welcomes you into his house when
he chases all other teenage boys away.
It means a man in his eighties tells you "Well, if you father doesn't
show up you'll just take over." And you're only 16.
It means that a friend of yours has a curfew - unless he's with you
in which case he can go anywhere until any hour.
It means that no matter where you go or what you do there is someone
there to see and report back to your father.
It means knowing that your behavior can have an impact on your fathers
future job security.
It means that everyone (or so it seems) know who you are.
It means that people come to you, even at a young age, with Bible
questions. And they expect you to know the answer.
It means 14 years of perfect attendance pins for Sunday School.
It means hearing how great your father is and how lucky you are to
have him for a parent. Sometimes it also means wondering who they're
talking about. :-)
It means that when the phone rings, at any hour of the day or night,
it better get answered. And the message better be taken and given
correctly. Because it just may be a matter of life and death.
It means having the key to the church gym hanging in the kitchen
so you can play basketball any time you want.
It means living up to very high expectations.
It means serving God in a real way years before you really understand
that that's what you are doing.
Alfred
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763.2 | | CSC32::J_CHRISTIE | Pacifist Hellcat | Sat Nov 20 1993 23:48 | 6 |
| .1 Whoa, Alfred! I guess I realized some of that before, but
not all of it.
Thanks.
Richard
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763.3 | Except with more visability & responsibility | JULIET::MORALES_NA | Sweet Spirit's Gentle Breeze | Sun Nov 21 1993 02:34 | 6 |
| Thanks Alfred,
It would serve all church members to read that in their church bulletin
to remind them that pk's are just like their own kids.
Nancy
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763.4 | But I did like access to the grand piano. | WELLER::FANNIN | | Sun Nov 21 1993 16:04 | 11 |
|
I think Alfred about summed it up.
But, my experience is much more negative.
I couldn't "compete" with God for my Dad's attention. So I suppose I
competed with Dad for God's attention.
It was a weird trip.
Ruth
|
763.5 | | CVG::THOMPSON | Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest? | Mon Nov 22 1993 10:50 | 85 |
| I've had some good deal of dealings with PKs over the years. Besides
my father I also have an uncle who is a preacher. Right now I also
have two ordained cousins who also have children. I've been friendly
with a lot of PKs over the years. There isn't one universal PK
experience. A lot depends on the type of church and the type of
preacher your father is. I know that there are women preachers but
I've never know any of their kids. I suspect that their experience is
in some way different because of the differing roles of parents.
Competing with God and/or His church for a fathers attention is a
common problem. In some ways it was worse in my house because my father
through himself into his work after my mother died. A Preacher's job
can take a lot of time. Some PKs do resent God for this. I was surprised
to find, as an adult, that some Preachers regularly take a day off
every week. My father didn't. He did take two weeks off to serve his
Naval Reserve duty and we did have some vacation time. But nothing like
a regular day that you knew he was "off." He was generally there for
special events in our lives though. Basketball games, etc. And of
course many of the big events were church related which made it easier
for him to make it. :-)
Rebelling against ones father appears to be fairly common. Though I
have little first hand experience with this situation. One of my
brothers did act up a bit. OK, maybe more than a bit. But I believe it
was more the result of not having a mother; he was 4 when she died. And
rebellion is common in all types of families. It just tends to get a
bit more attention in Preacher's families. Everything that happens in
a Preacher's family gets more attention. It is quite a bit like being
a politicians child. I've known a few of those as well.
It's interesting that many people expect PKs to become preachers
themselves. I know of few other jobs where this sort of expectation
remains in the US. With the children of an orthodox Rabbi this remains
a reasonable expectation but not so with Christian clergy. Though some
do it's far from automatic. We see first hand what our parents go
though. The appreciation for what they do is not really up to the work
involved. Being a preacher is a calling and I firmly believe that
people should avoid it unless God is really leading them to it. Note
also that I believe that being a Preacher's wife is a calling as well.
I remember some things my mother went through. If she did too much she
was meddling and butting in. If she did too little she wasn't pulling
her weight. And of course the view of too much and too little depended
on the particular congregation member and their particular bias. There
is often considerable overlap in the two views. So you can't really
win.
I also believe that being a PK, like so much in life, is dependent on
what you put into it. Your own character and outlook are important. I
learned a very strong sense of duty and an obligation to serve from the
experience. So did a couple of my cousins. Others don't seem to pick
this up any more or less than anybody elses kids.
There are plus sides and down sides. The plus sides often include
access to church resources. The piano that Ruth mentioned. The gym
I talked about. There was the year we hosted my fathers whole family
in the church fellowship hall. My uncle did this once or twice too.
As the family got big with kids getting married and having kids this
was a big help. Extra room. Extra stoves and ovens. It all made things
easier.
There was also the plus of meeting special people from time to time.
My father knew and worked with a lot of elected officials. I met
several mayor's of New York. Bobby Kennedy (I wasn't impressed).
Congressmen, judges, etc. I regularly had late dinners with the
Democratic leaders of the NY legislature (both houses). It was a
wonderful learning experience. One I don't think I would have gotten
otherwise.
The down side included everyone having very high expectations of your
behavior and looking for flaws. Frankly I found being the "perfect"
child pretty easy and a lot less stressful then acting up. Others
react to it differently and feel stress intensely. One was constantly
"on." And you can't go to your pastor when you are having trouble
with your parents either. I had peers who came to my father about
parent problems. Even some kids of other preachers. I never developed
any relationships with other preachers to do this with. It would have
helped at times.
My father tells me that the church, Methodist, has realized over the
years that ministers and their families often do need ministering to
themselves. So I am hopeful that some things are getting easier as
time goes on.
Alfred
|
763.6 | | JUPITR::HILDEBRANT | I'm the NRA | Mon Nov 22 1993 11:42 | 5 |
| RE: .5
Thanks Alfred......interesting reading.
Marc H.
|
763.7 | ACOPs | WELLER::FANNIN | | Mon Nov 22 1993 17:05 | 34 |
| Alfred!
That's it! I've found my support group..."Adult children of
Preachers."
Seriously, you put words to a lot of my childhood memories. The
hardest part of being a PK is the isolation. I really felt alone. I
couldn't talk about my problems with friends because it might make my
Dad look bad, or it might betray a confidence (we learned to shut our
little mouths at an early age, eh?).
And I never felt like I could go talk to any of the adults in my
church, because they might talk to my Dad about it.
And all of the special attention bothered me. Did I get the lead part
in the Christmas play when I was 10 because of my acting ability? I'll
never know...
I didn't mind all the weddings though. It was my part-time high school
job, playing piano for weddings...easy gig.
Alfred, did you consciously (or subconsciously) compete with your Dad?
I did. I prayed more, studied harder, witnessed more often, logged in
more road miles in the ministry, was more fervent and more zealous than
the old man.
I didn't know that I was competing until Richard posted this note and
then it all became clear to me (Thanks Richard...this might lead to
some excellent healing of my relationship with my Dad).
Hmmm.
Ruth
|
763.8 | | CVG::THOMPSON | Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest? | Mon Nov 22 1993 17:29 | 27 |
|
>Seriously, you put words to a lot of my childhood memories. The
>hardest part of being a PK is the isolation. I really felt alone. I
>couldn't talk about my problems with friends because it might make my
>Dad look bad, or it might betray a confidence (we learned to shut our
>little mouths at an early age, eh?).
Yes, discretion was learned early. I think, reading your note, that I
was particularly lucky to have cousins who are PKs. We provided a sort
of support group for each other. We could talk and share and work
things out together. We still do talk about what it meant and means to
grow up PK.
> Alfred, did you consciously (or subconsciously) compete with your Dad?
Nope. I was and in some ways still am in awe of my father. There was no
way I thought I could out do him. So it never occurred to compete with
him. But I've known others who did. One college friend finally realized
in college that God was not calling him to the ministry and that he
didn't have to do it just because his father did. It was a real realize
for him.
Alfred
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763.9 | | DPDMAI::DAWSON | I've seen better times | Tue Nov 23 1993 09:58 | 7 |
| RE: .7 Ruth,
ACOP???? :-) Now there is a 12 step program I
jes gotta see! ;-)
Dave
|
763.10 | Life as a Missionary Kid | GRIM::MESSENGER | Bob Messenger | Sat Nov 27 1993 21:39 | 87 |
763.11 | | CVG::THOMPSON | Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest? | Sat Nov 27 1993 21:51 | 5 |
| Bob, did you learn that little rhyme some of my MK friends taught me:
"Where He leads me I will follow, what He feeds me I will swallow."
Alfred
|
763.12 | | GRIM::MESSENGER | Bob Messenger | Sat Nov 27 1993 22:05 | 17 |
| Re: .11 Alfred
No, I don't remember that particular ditty. Actually the food was pretty
good for us in Rhodesia compared with what MK's probably had to eat in
some other countries. We didn't think much of Rhodesian hamburgers or
milk shakes, but apparently beef was cheaper than in the U.S. and there
was all kinds of fruit.
The main local African dish was sadza, which was a sort of heavy corn meal
mush with spinach-like vegetables, curry and meat. We actually considered
it a treat since we didn't have it very often.
My mother confessed that when she was in Rhodesia she had a craving for
Fruit Loops cereal. There wasn't a lot of American brand name food
available, especially since Rhodesia was subject to U.N. sanctions.
-- Bob
|
763.13 | Suffer the little children | WELLER::FANNIN | | Fri Dec 03 1993 01:22 | 22 |
| >>re .10 "hymns were OK, but those African preachers gave sermons that
>>were ninety minutes long - and longer! I'm not making this up - some
>>church services lasted for three hours, and I hardly understood a word!
I can top this one! In the Eastern Appalachian churches, preachers
routinely went for 1-2 hours and when one was finished, another would
take his place, tag-team preaching style. Many Sundays, I'd go to
Sunday school at 9:00 a.m., church at 10:00, get out of church at 2:00
p.m., and go back at 7:00 - 9:30 for evening service.
Then, about once a month, they'd have an *all day* service...
When I was a small child, it was always my intent to wriggle free of my
mother and slip out the back door as soon as I could to go catch frogs
in the local creek.
Because, I don't know if any of you are familiar with the delivery of
Appalachian fundamentalist ministers, but really, I couldn't understand
a word they were saying either.
Ruth
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